The
name Charlton means Land of Free Peasants and this is reflected by the social
structure that remained into the 20th century. It never had a resident squire or
large land owner. In the 18th Century diocesan returns as having no family
of note. The church is mainly 13th century with major alterations in the 14th
but on the site of an older structure. The domestic buildings are mainly of
stone dating from the 17th century onwards. Most of the open field remained
intact until 1858 and the farms remained in the village nucleus. There
have been no outlying farms.